I'm just commenting on the fish-- I have no idea whether the puppies are from puppy mills or not.
If you have 40 or 50 tanks then it's ok for there to be 1 or 2 dead fish. Four or five is unacceptable. A conscientious employee would remove the dead ones on a regular basis (and there shouldn't be so many dead fish that this would present any difficulties).
I also liked the following interaction:
Me: Do you sell hikari massivore [a type of pellet for carnivorous fish]?
Employee: I don't know. [Walks away.]
Gee, thanks for checking.
Overall, it's one step up from a big chain pet store, but it's a pretty small step. Go to living art for live fish. You won't regret it.